Joe P. Burns Jr.

Joe P. Burns Jr. PERRY - Joe P. Burns Jr., 80, funeral director and longtime resident of Perry, died Friday, May 26, 2006, after a short illness. The service will be at 2 p.m. EDT Wednesday at First Baptist Church, with burial at Pineview Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends from 6 to 9 p.m. EDT Tuesday at Joe P. Burns Funeral Home (850-584-4149) with a Masonic Rite service at 8 p.m. EDT. Flowers may be sent or memorial contributions may be made to Big Bend Hospice, 1723 Mahan Center Blvd., Tallahassee, FL 32308; First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 1119, Perry 32348, or a favorite church or charity. Burns was born in Lake City on Oct. 29, 1925, to Dr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Burns. His mother was the former Ethel Lois Morgan of Mayo. He grew up in Lake City, Ft. White and Newberry. In 1944, Burns went to work at Melton Funeral Home in Lake City. He worked at the Wilson Funeral Home in Lake City from 1947 to 1954. He graduated from the Gupton-Jones College of Mortuary Science in Nashville, Tenn., in 1951 and received his funeral director's license in 1952. Burns moved to Perry in December1954 with his wife, Dorothy and opened the Joe P. Burns Funeral Home and ambulance service. He later opened the Burns Monument and Vault Co. and a Mayo Branch Funeral Chapel. Burns built a new funeral home at its present location, 1400 Johnson Stripling Road, in 1976. He purchased land for a perpetual-care cemetery and opened Pineview Memorial Gardens on May 8, 1978. Burns was an active board member of the Tri-County Electric Cooperative Inc. of Taylor County and the Seminole Electric Cooperative Inc. Burns was a member of the First Baptist Church in Perry and also attended Blue Creek Baptist Church at Keaton Beach. He was active in many civic, trade and fraternal organizations including Board of Directors of Funeral Service Inc. (1982-96); Florida Funeral Directors Association, president (1986-87); National Funeral Directors Association; Florida Monument Builders Association, president (1991-92); Chamber of Commerce, former president; Coast Guard Auxiliary, member and first commander (formed in the early 1960s); Pinetree (now Florida Forest) Festival, chairman; Taylor County Financial Commission for the Boy Scouts; longtime volunteer for the American Red Cross; Taylor County Cookers, charter member and former president; Perry Elks Lodge; Perry Kiwanis Club, former president; 50-year member of Perry Masonic Lodge, 32nd Degree Mason; Perry Eastern Star, former patron; Perry and Mayo Shrine Clubs (Crippled Children's Committee), former president of both; Morocco Temple, Jacksonville; York Rite Bodies and Scottish Rite, Knight Commander Court of Honor; Marzuq Temple, Tallahassee; life member of the Royal Order of the Jesters, Tallahassee, director (1990); honorary life member of both Hadji Temple, Pensacola and Bahai Temple, Orlando; Taylor County Gator Club, former president; and Woodmen of the World. Burns helped organize and was the first president of the American Cancer Society, Perry Chapter (1958). He was also instrumental in getting the deep canal at Keaton Beach built by the Corps of Engineers with the help of Congressman Don Fuqua. Burns supported the Florida Sheriffs Boys Ranch and the Boys and Girls Club of Perry. Burns is survived by his wife of 54 years, Dorothy H. Burns; a son, Morgan W. Burns of Perry; two daughters, Bonnie B. Glover (and Joe) of Tallahassee and Barbara Jo Burns of Perry; a niece whom he helped raise, Bea O. Taylor (and John M., IV) and their two sons, John and Jay, all of Virginia Beach, Va.; two grandchildren, Cara S. Hill (and Luke) of Crawfordville and Gray Sadler of Tallahassee; a stepgrandson, Ryan Glover (and Betsy) of Orlando; a stepgreat-granddaughter, Terri Jo Glover of Tallahassee; a brother-in-law, Louie Hicks of Jacksonville; and a host of nieces, nephews and good friends. Burns was preceded in death by his parents, Ethel Lois Morgan and Joe P. Burns Sr., MD; a son, Joe P. "Joey" Burns III; and two sisters, Buryldine Schoenek and Ethel Hicks.